Evan ProdromouOct 17, 2023

So, if I were going to make a tech manifesto, it might be something like:

- protocols not platforms
- coops and unions
- technology should not actively hurt us
- people not users
- seven generations, seven continents
- free markets require antitrust enforcement

Show threadBrennan Stehling

@evan I'd prefer a model which is not as adversarial as unions are. The "co-determination” system in Germany is a good system where workers elect representatives to a company's supervisory board. This way the direction of the company and policies are directly influenced by workers. The current system the US has where workers must go on strike without pay for weeks or months to get fair contracts is harmful to workers as we saw with the writers strike.

By law, companies with more than 2,000 employees must have an equal number of worker elected representatives on the board. This reduces the friction between workers and management while ensuring workers have a voice and significant influence.

Oct 17, 2023 at 6:37pmWeb
Show threadjon rOct 17, 2023

@brennansv @evan Also the legal form dubbed 'worker coop' in the UK doesn't exist in many other legislations.

Here in the EU, if not trying to harmonise cooperative legislation, there are attempts at new legal forms where shared ownership is a mandatory quality.

So far the cooperatives movement has found different implementations throughout the globe, and we need to learn a lot more from each other how to use existing and advocate for new legal forms for fruitful ecosystems.

Show threaddanienOct 18, 2023

@yala @brennansv @evan

This BBC Horizon's 1980 documentary on the Mondragon Experiment might be interesting. Talks about how they developed somewhat organically based on the needs of the community, from manufacturing to education to banking.

https://archive.org/details/TheMondragonExperiment

The Mondragon Experiment : David Whitson, Michael Gore, Geoff Moore 1961-, Alexander John, Off Center Video. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

This film explores the cooperatives of Mondragon, Spain as a model of industrial and community development that can guide the future.

Internet Archive
Show threaddanienOct 18, 2023

@yala @brennansv @evan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/07/mondragon-spains-giant-cooperative

Mondragon: Spain's giant co-operative where times are hard but few go bust

The northern Spanish town is dominated by its eponymous €15bn corporation that controls over 100 smaller co-ops

The Guardian
Show threadsteelmanOct 17, 2023
@brennansv Mitbestimmungsgesetz has been established after unions threatened with strikes and in most cases unions take part in this process.
@evan
Show threadMary BranscombeOct 17, 2023
@brennansv @evan unions are only as adversarial as management makes them be
Show threadPeter BrettOct 18, 2023

@brennansv @evan Unions are not fundamentally adversarial. Workers have a huge vested interest in the success of the work that they do.

The idea of trade unions being a drag on productivity and corporate performance is propaganda promulgated by capitalists to make it easier for them to exploit labour without hindrance.

In any organisation with fair and equitable employment and compensation policies, the trade union is an ally, not an opponent.

Show thread★ Amy Star ★Oct 18, 2023

@brennansv @evan no. any labour representative in a for-profit company would immediately get sidelined by "infinite growth"-cultist investors bringing everything back to square one.

the true solution to this is worker-owned co-ops, where the investor class is cut out of the arrangement entirely.

in for-profit, hierarchical models, unions *are* the compromise. anything less is pandering.